Gamescom Latam, which hosts the largest game awards in Latin America, has revealed the winners of its 2024 ceremony–and indie gaming has swept the accolades, despite a contentious field of over 100 titles worldwide.
The event’s 49 judges chose Chants of Sennaar–from Toulouse-based Rundisc–as its game of the year. The language-based puzzler, which made my 2023 indie game of the year list, proved to be one of the most visually stunning games of 2023, reflecting Sable and Creature in the Well in its art direction while offering challenging and thoroughly clever gameplay mechanics.
No game took home more than one trophy–but the field was competitive and incredibly varied, with a handful of very worthy winners.
The 2024 Gamescom Latam award winners in full
Game of the Year: Chants Of Sennaar
Best Game from Latin America: Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure
Best Brazilian Game: Momodora: Moonlit Farewell
Best Casual Game: Station to Station
Best Audio: Dordogne
Another game that made my indie GOTY round-up, albeit the longlist, Dordogne was a delightfully sleepy tale of a young woman reliving a very fateful summer in the French countryside, and it’s as whimsical and beautiful as you may expect, if not a little ill-paced. Can’t fault its audio, though.
Best Art: Harold Halibut
It’s hard to argue against the artistic merit of Harold Halibut–alongside its excellent voice acting–but the rest of the game can be a bit of a mess. It’s still on Game Pass at the time of writing, so check it out on there, and forgive its slow start, as there’s a lot to love, even if everything is done at a snail’s pace.
Best Multiplayer: Extremely Powerful Capybaras
Best Narrative: Once Upon a Jester
Best Gameplay: Pacific Drive
I never had the chance to review Pacific Drive, yet it’s one of the most inventive takes on a classic genre you’ll see in 2024, combining elements of Jalopy, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Chernobylite, and Firewatch to deliver a fascinating and surreal experience. It manages to simultaneously explain itself incredibly well, yet make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Once you get past its tricky UI, there’s a lot to love.
Innovation Award: Cryptmaster
Best Mobile Game: What the Car?
Triband’s follow-up to the barmy What the Golf?–the funniest game of 2019–is just as good as its predecessor. If you’ve got VR, don’t sleep on What the Bat?.
